areed March 4th, 2011

I recently read in the Wall Street Journal that more companies are jumping into the business of refurbishing and reselling used cell phones that are clogging Americans’ drawers and closets.  Did you know that this market will soon account for one-fifth of the cell phone market in the US?   As I read this article, I mentally counted the number of cell phones that I have accumulated over the past few years. That list includes a substantial inventory of Motorola Razrs, Blackberrys, Droids, and an iPhone or two (and I’ll leave the iPad and iPad 2 out of this conversation, for now). That said, I better understand how this inventory builds up. In fact, I estimated that my total investment in these devices has been between $500 and $1,000.

Like most technology users, I’m willing to pay that over time. Ultimately, I want immediate access to information – a single device for my camera, music (MP3 Player), GPS, email and, of course, my phone.   My smart phone is that powerfully useful tool that makes life easier.  So, for better or worse, I’m willing to incur the sunk cost associated with changing cell phones frequently just to gain the latest features and capabilities.

Then, is it really a surprise that businesses want to improve their communications too?  Like the mobile phone, users want a single interface to access their phone calls, their associated emails, presence, chat, CRM systems, caller location services and so much more.  Phone systems need to be more intuitive for business processes by optimizing IVR capabilities, integrating call queues, generating reports and even facilitating video calling.  These too need to be powerfully useful tools to make businesses more productive.

This brings us not only to considering initial investments, but to the issue of TCO, or total cost of ownership over the lifetime of the product. Frequently replacing a business phone system to add the latest features and capabilities does not make sense financially and logistically, especially for SMBs. It’s certainly going to surpass the few hundred, or thousands, of dollars a consumer might be willing to sink.  That’s why it’s essential to implement a phone system that grows as your business grows.

Some phone system providers require costly add-ons and licensing for additional features.  This can be similar to having a separate gadget for your digital camera, MP3 player, GPS system and cell phone.  Each device has its own upgrade requirements.  And, the total solution can be cumbersome and costly.   One Digium customer, Clear Creek Telephone & Television, experienced this phenomenon when upgrading its phone system.  This company saw competitive solutions that were five times the cost of Digium’s Switchvox.  (Read this case study.)

So, before you look for gold in refurbishing cell phones, consider how your office communications can improve and how you can actually save money with a smarter phone system. Most importantly, I encourage you to consider one that will also evolve as your business communications needs evolve – without nickel-and-diming you with every additional feature on the front-end investment, while protecting your total cost of ownership, too.  Read how other customers are saving money with UC solutions.

• Digium , Products , Small and Medium Business , Switchvox , Unified Communications
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About the Author

areed

Angie Reed, Product Marketing Manager for Switchvox has over 13 years of experience in telecommunications. She has served in various roles from technical support and technical training to applications engineering. Most recently she has served in product marketing and channel development roles.